Coghlan Dreams by Agustí Fernández / Pablo Ledesma / Mono Hurtado

The music that Fernández, Ledesma, and Hurtado play on Coghlan Dreams (the album is named as such because the pianist met the saxophonist and bassist in the latter's house, a few blocks from Coghlan station in Buenos Aires) goes down unexpected paths, as usually happens in dreams. Here is a music that moves from intensity to meditation, from "conventional" technique to extended technique. It's music that sometimes creates spaces that are filled with rough timbres and at other times is organised around a melodic sketch. The only instruction is "know how to relate to one another". Each musician should comply with the others, knitting a dynamic weave in which each one is a soloist and an accompanist at the same time. This is what happens on Coghlan Dreams. The precise articulations, the fervor with which the trio tackles unexpected intervals, and the successive rhythmic impulses reveal technical skill that rises to the challenge of searching for new forms in the same time frame as the music. The remarkable interconnection that a Majorcan (by origin) and Catalan (by residence) and two Argentines have achieved in this set of 12 tracks speaks to the confidence with which they have managed to cultivate the art of playing freely over the length of their careers. But this doesn't explain why at times you feel like shouting "Eureka!" when a brief line from the sax is perfectly replicated by the piano, or when the bass holds a bowed note that creates a tonal axis over which the sax and piano vibrate. It's not only about playing "free", with no guidelines. It's about playing free with others who also do so, completely unaware of the direction that the music will take, music that arises from an aesthetic coexistence. Unpremeditated interaction demands real-time understanding. This indeed happens in all kinds of music played by more than one performer, but perhaps free improvisation is the musical experience that requires the most empathy, since all agreements spring from the evolution of the sound itself.
Sergio Pujol

Sergio Pujol is an historian, music critic and writer. His latest book is called El año de Artaud. Rock y política en 1973 (Planeta, Buenos Aires, 2019) www.sergiopujol.com.ar

Independent label of free improvised music promoted by Agustí Fernández

agustifernandez.com